Can I Use My Herbal Powders To Make Teas?

As some may know I only have experience with Herbal Tinctures. To save money I bought a Pill Machine-size 0 and several pounds of herbs but in Powder form. I now have a kitchen full of Cat's ---Claw (Uncaria tomentosa)
-Japanese Knotweet
-Andrographis
-Houttuynia
-Red Root
-Cordyceps
-milk thistle seed

So yeah, I sorta declared WAR on all that ails me One little problem I discovered however. I am not doing at all well in my pill making. My back is SO damaged from both the 4 bullet & shrapnel wounds as well as the 6 spine fusions that in just an hour or less both arms and hands grow SO numb I can't even open or close a zip lock bag much less operate that simple little pill making machine. OOPS....

So before I go into a full panic that my antidepressant can't help me with, anyone know if there is some way to make a tea or SOMETHING with all these 1 pound bags of stuff? I don't care ANYTHING at all about how awful it may taste, I just need to find out if there is some way at all to salvage all this? I tried stirring these into water, using a "shaker" to dissolve them in water. Every time I get a muddy glass or jar with "SAND" in the bottom. If I tried to get my wife to make a tea, would that not RUIN any of the medicinal value of the herbs?

ANY ideas, I will be forver in your debt. My hands and back are just too far gone for this I fear? If I don't get spasms, my arms and legs have so many little "seizures" I look like I am shadow boxing the Devil instead of makin pills! Or, tryin to grab that sucker by the horns? Sure hope someone who know about such things can help me. OR tell me gently I am screwed?

I use powders. I'm transitioning, so all my herbs are in powdered form.

Though, no, it does not make for as good of teas as the whole/cut forms, as it's very difficult to strain the powder from the finished product.

Because of that, I just started drinking/eating the powder along with it, which is kind of gross. The consistency is like mud or something. Sludge.

As for the potency of using powders versus the competitor, I'm not sure.

One of the reasons I've switched back to powders is, well, ease of use.

I've read that some of the more hearty herbs, such as dried roots and barks and stuff, require you to prepare them a certain way to get all of the desired constituents (say, you bring to a boil, then simmer for a certain amount of time). Powders are ground up, the surface area is larger, so I figure it is easier for the hot water to bring goodies out.

Also, there's the fact that they're more difficult to store and take longer to dose.

I have trouble fitting pounds of some of these whole/cut herbs in half gallon jars (could not find any bigger in stores, and am not trying to pay the premium people put on bigger ones sold online).

As for the time, while I know my health isn't something I should want to be hasty about, I just wonder how much I'm missing out by having some powdered herbs all mixed together in one jar, dosing that way, instead of having to get out 10 different jars and weigh a certain amount of the herbs out, etc.

If someone could present a clear argument as to why the other forms of herbs beat out powders when making medicinal teas, apart from just that the powders are hard to get out and make for a more unsightly concoction, I might consider switching back.

edit - I hadn't thought of making it into a smoothie, Annette. With kefir? Cool.

I made tinctures from my powders. Takes about six weeks. When I made teas I would pour hot water over them, cover, let cool, then mix them in a blender to get rid of the lumps.
Best,
M.

I'm sorry Mike, but I just giggled my way through this thread!! So thanks for that!! I needed a good giggle today (NOT a good day for me!)

As the others have said, trying to make tea will leave you with a sludge at the bottom, but you can try taking it in juice.

Buhner suggests in his "Herbal Abx" book (page 330) that you can "mix the powdered herbs you wish to take very well, then add enough honey to make a ball only slightly sticky to the hand, then eat it."

That's exactly what I do, rowingmom, re the infusions with powdered herbs.

In fact, now that you mention it again, I think it was one of your older posts that inspired me to do so.

So.. thanks! :D

Mike or should I say curd boy? You must keep your wife in stitches!

rowingmom said...
Yes. Making infusions is a very good way to extract different compounds from each herbal powder. Buhner recommends using hot water and then allowing it to cool to room temperature. Different compounds are extracted at different temperatures. Then when you ingest the infused powder there is an additional acid extraction (stomach acid).

We use both tinctures and infused powdered herbs. If my daughter could take that stuff at age 10, you can too! Try a pomegranate juice chaser. Makes it all worth while.

In hopes of NOT goofing this up, you are saying take my 1 teaspoon of each of the 5 herbs and place them in my drinking cup, pour HOT water in and let sit till it cools then drink? I only ask for clarification as when I try mixing any of these into col water, I simply get MUD. NOTHING "mixes" much at all.

So maybe the very hot water makes it all get dissolve like I was after then? Please let me know since I hate to wast any more of my herbs on my Frankenstein experiments gone wrong And THANK you for this!

lucynethel (OR Just Mike) said...

rowingmom said...
Different compounds are extracted at different temperatures

Another question. Are you saying that by trowing the herbs into HOT water, I am "altering" the benefit of each herb somehow? If so, I worry about how do I know in what way? I am SO confused with his book in one hand, my herbs in the other, using a toe on my left foot to stir and a toe on my other foot to measure etc....And I can't begin to tell ya what my other body parts are doin cuz this is a family show! ANY more confusion and I just may try doing herbal enemas! And before Bluelyme jumps in, this was just to beat ya TOO IT cuz I KNOW it was comin. Oh God. There I go again. either.... I need a nap.

For someone that jokes about keeping his lovely young wife at bay, needing excuses to do so as well, you certainly seem to be in a mind frame for letting her have her way tonight!

Anyone familiar with the classic rock group Queen? They have a song, an album actually, but a song on the album both titled "Innuendo". A line from that song goes "don't take offense at my innuendo".

Mike, you made me think of that just now. And I'm giggling again. I tend to get a little slap happy when I've been up too long too. But it's fun.

I believe Buhner says to add hot water, alloww to cool, then strain the herb powders out, then drink. Hopefully someone can confirm that. My brain is mush from not enough sleep last night.

Traveler said...
I believe Buhner says to add hot water, alloww to cool, then strain the herb powders out, then drink. Hopefully someone can confirm that. My brain is mush from not enough sleep last night.

That sounds familiar. Though, the task of straining the powders out is such a pain.

I remember asking you how I should go about it, long ago, and you suggested that I use some cheesecloth. I did, and it was a very long, messy affair.

Maybe there's some technique to doing it properly? I don't know.

I'd rather eat the powder though.

My only real worry is if it's hard on my (leaky) gut, digesting so much powder.

Other than that, making sure I rinse my mouth out thoroughly, so I don't stain my beautiful teeth, so I think, because I've been working very hard on improving my dental hygiene this past year (can't wait to go back to the dentist and get compliments).

do you take them with food?

Sandwich it - eat some food, take the herbs...and chase with food.

lucynethel (OR Just Mike) said...
If powder is hard on the gut, then putting it in my pills would do nothing at all to help with that then would it? I swear, even drinking the tinctures it feels like all this is giving me another ulcer?

Well, I use what I feel is a lot of powder, being that I have like so many grams worth of 10 different powdered herbs mixed together.

But, I mean.. I could be exaggerating.

Thinking about it, for my gut, it couldn't be any worse than a large meal.

I wouldn't worry, at least not about the powder causing you problems. Other stuff, maybe.

Have you already looked into gut-related supplements.. for repair, soothing, etc.?

Glutamine, aloe vera juice, stuff like that..

What did you pay for it, just curious?

Also, I think aloe vera juice is slightly different. More of the nutrients, etc.

I was using some whole, raw juice, because I was afraid of some of the other options not being completely PURE, due to worries about fungal issues (the slightest amount of sugar, or even higher carb vegetables bothers me).

If you're not too worried about a little.. I think there are some good juices for a decent price..

It is yummy though, yeah. I wish I could afford to drink it atm - in between jobs.